7 Reasons Ronda Rousey Would Defeat Cyborg Santos

Cyborg Santos versus Gina Carano. 

Meisha Tate versus Ronda Rousey.

In the short history of female MMA these are the only two fights that have garnered the attention of people outside a small niche audience. 

Of the four fighters comprising those bouts, Gina Carano has made the move to the big screen and Tate has failed to prove she is on the level. All that remains is Rousey and Cyborg.

Sure, there are other credible fighters out there. Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman come to mind. But while good fighters in their own right, they are incapable of captivating  the type of audience Rousey and Cyborg can.

This situation should supply its own solution. Cyborg should fight Rousey.

The bout would be the biggest fight ever in female MMA. It would be bigger than Tate-Rousey and Cyborg-Carano.

Cyborg is nursing a bruised ego inflicted by a failed PED test, but when she returns, Rousey will be waiting. The two women fight at different weight classes, but 10 pounds should be no bar to announcing the arrival of female MMA.

Though it won't be long before this fantasy becomes reality, I am here to preemptively shatter the suspense. When it does happen, Ronda Rousey will defeat Cyborg Santos, and will do so convincingly.

Rousey's Grappling Trumps Cyborg's Striking

There are not a whole lot of knockout artists in female MMA, but Cyborg Santos definitely rates as such. With eight KO/TKO wins in 11 fights, Cyborg is a danger to anyone. 

But there is a catch.

In spite of Cyborg's outrageous power, she is yet to notch an actual standing knockout as a Strikeforce combatant. Her finish of Jan Finney started with a knee to the body, but the knockout itself was more or less the culmination of ground n' pound and previous clinch work. 

Typically, knockouts and TKOs is tomato-tomato (works better verbalized, but you get the point), but when you consider that Cyborg's greatest weapon, her ground n' pound, leads her straight to the mat with an opponent like Rousey, it changes everything.

Though Cyborg's ground n' pound is tops in female mixed martial arts, Rousey's ground game is more complete than anyone's. If these two ended up on the floor, my money would be on an armbar, not a TKO. 

Rousey's Judo Nullifies Cyborg's Clinch

No woman in MMA is as strong as Cyborg Santos. That said, no one is more capable of putting an opponent on her back than Ronda Rousey.

The brief exchanges from Rousey's bout with Meisha Tate indicate she would be at a distinct disadvantage is she were to exchange with the Brazilian, but the ease with which she took Tate — an accomplished wrestler — to the mat, suggests she could do the same to Cyborg.

Cyborg likes to beat her opponents until they crumple and collapse, then finish on the ground. I have already noted the issues Cyborg would run into if she was in a position to finish, but the thing is, she would be very lucky to even make it to that point.

Cyborg loves to do damage in the clinch. She executes a mean uppercut in short quarters and thrashes rib cages with her knees. If she tried that against the former Olympic Judo bronze medalist, Rousey, she would perform an aerial somersault en route to the lounging position.

Rousey's judo would nullify Cyborg's clinch. The latter would have to rely on her kickboxing to do damage. And while Cyborg's kickboxing is nothing to scoff at, it is very unlikely she could finish Rousey without closing the distance.

Cyborg Could Not Deal with Rousey's Ground Control and Submissions

We now arrive at the culmination of determining why Rousey is the mongoose to Cyborg's snake.

The only way Cyborg could do serious damage to Rousey would be to run the gauntlet that is the latter's clinch. Inevitably, the Brazilian would end up flat on her back. 

Maybe she could get back up. But how many times?

It is not as though Cyborg would have to weather one takedown. She would be on her back repeatedly and it would only be a matter of time before Rousey took her arm off.

In Cyborg's fight with Gina Carona, "Conviction" had her mounted briefly, but decided to stand up despite the advantageous position. There would be no freebies with Rousey.

Rousey is beyond capable of repeatedly planting Cyborg on her butt, and is just as capable of keeping her there. Most importantly though, she is capable of finishing her there.

Rousey Has All the Momentum

Moving away from stylistic advantages we arrive at intangibles.

A cursory glance at the matchup depicts one fighter who recently became the hottest thing in female MMA en route to claiming the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight title, the other is serving a PED suspension.

In addition to this one-sided juxtaposition, this fight would take place in front of a crowd that would be overwhelmingly pro-Rousey.

The mood of the audience influences different fighters in different ways, but there would certainly be an energy in the building, ready to be harnessed by the American fighter.

Ring Rust Could Be a Problem for Cyborg

Not only would Rousey enter the contest with momentum that could fill an ocean, Cyborg would be coming off a lengthy layoff.

As does the crowd, ring rust affects different fighters in different manners. Some look lost, while others give no indication that they have been out of action for a time. The one constant though, nobody benefits from a steroid induced hiatus.

Even if Cyborg was trigger shy for just the first 30 seconds of a fight against Rousey she would be in danger of having her arm mangled Meisha Tate style before getting comfortable.

Rousey Has the Confidence to Beat Cyborg

Let's face it. All variables, styles, layoffs, and momentum aside, Cyborg is a very imposing figure. 

The Brazilian appears to be constructed of material more commonly used for buildings than people.

She is the scariest woman in MMA. 

Few fighters have the mental fortitude to completely block this from their minds. That is not to say Cyborg wins her fights before they begin, only that she is an intimidating fighter who possesses a psychological advantage over her counterparts more often than not.

With Rousey, she would lose this edge.

Before her fight with Meisha Tate, Rousey did a lot of talking. She told Tate she would armbar her in round one of their contest, and she did. She said she could beat up Tate's boyfriend, Bryan Caraway, and judging by his insecure reactions, he seemed pretty threatened.

Sometimes when fighters talk it is to promote a fight, and no doubt Rousey was playing that card to. But another reason why she talked was to make herself believe. Rousey was telling Tate how she visualized their fight happening. She told this to Tate because she wanted to convince her opponent, as well as herself, what she said was the truth. 

If Rousey is booked to compete against Cyborg, she would talk herself blue. Not just to sell herself, but to mentally chip away at the rock formation that is Cristiane Santos, until all that was left was another fighter. One that Rousey will believe she could, and will, defeat.

Not many fighters can do that.

Rousey Is a Better Mixed Martial Artist Than Cyborg

This acclaim for Rousey is the culmination of the previous six slides. The American is a stylistic nightmare for Santos and has the skills, momentum and confidence.

Cyborg staked her claim as the world's premier female fighter when she toppled Gina Carano nearly three years ago, but her absence has permitted Rousey to usurp her.

The return of the former queen will cause tension. As the pressure mounts it will weigh on Rousey, but the ultimate breaking point will by Cyborg's arm, not Rousey's belief.